Rapper

When Jasiel Robinson was growing up in Atlanta, he learned much about running a business from his father, who owned a hair-care products company. Years later when Robinson became platinum-selling rapper Yung Joc, he applied the same progressive business acumen to his career in hip-hop. It's not just about making music. "You have a recognizable name and face and a credible reputation. You can relate all that to building financial wealth," says Joc, who plays 1st Mariner Arena tomorrow night as part of Screamfest '07, which also stars fellow Atlanta rapper T.I and R&B-pop princess Ciara.

A few personal changes pushed Aesop Rock into more adventurous musical territory. The enigmatic underground rapper got married, turned 30 and traded the intense streets of New York City for the laid-back environs of San Francisco - all within the past two years. These events helped shaped the direction of his new album, None Shall Pass. "I thought nobody gets to this point without going through a reflective period," says the rapper born Ian Matthias Bavitz. "Something happens at this age where you find a newfound appreciation for things.

Bicycle-loan program to return next year The city of Annapolis' free bicycle-loan program will return in an expanded form next year, after posting modest results this summer. The Free Wheelin' program, which began in June, drew almost 70 bike enthusiasts in 2 1/2 months, city officials announced this week. Bike borrowers included local residents and tourists from across the country and abroad. "It was exciting to show that Annapolis is a city that not only encourages alternative forms but offers access to those modes of transportation," said Danielle Matland, director of transportation.

Kamaal the Abstract, one of my favorite albums of 2002 that I still jam today, has never seen the light of CD shops. And it's a shame because the record is a sterling effort from Q-Tip, one of hip-hop's more progressive MCs with musical talent to spare. It was supposed to be the follow-up to Amplified, the New York rapper's 1999 solo debut that sold gold but was slightly conventional for Tip. I received a press copy of Kamaal about a month before it was scheduled to drop that April. I even published a review praising Tip's insightful raps, loose vocalizing and spacious arrangements that braided Beatles-style pop-rock with rap and jazz.

Feel the Noise, an urban drama about a Harlem, N.Y., rapper (Omarion Grandberry) finding a new beat in the Reggaeton sound, was not screened for critics.

Photography in the postmodern era has taken an odd turn away from what most people think the camera is for.Rather than simply being a convincing image of the world, photographs increasingly have had to serve double duty as exemplars of all sorts of arcane academic theories as well as chief whipping boy for the culture wars. The result has been a lot of boring pictures by art world stars that pitifully masquerade as serious art.Fortunately, some of the best photographers have refused to compromise their vision to accommodate the fad for incomprehensible French poststructuralist theory and obnoxious subject matter.

Self-esteem is not an issue for Will Smith. Nor should it be, when he's box-office gold at the multiplex and certified platinum in the CD stores. If ever a rapper had a life worth boasting about, it's this guy.So it's easy to forgive him for the fact that his latest album, the modestly titled "Willennium" (Columbia 69985, arriving in stores today), opens with a barrage of boasts that would make even an egomaniac blush."Y'all want the best? Well, I'm right here," he crows in "I'm Comin'," a rap about how untoppable and unstoppable he is. And not just in the rap arena, either.

A slick new urban thriller from music video director Hype Williams, "Belly" looks great, sounds good and will probably make pots and pots of money at the box office. Whether or not it has any merit as a movie is another question.Part "Boyz N the Hood" and part "GoodFellas," the film tells the story of Sincere (played by Nasir Jones, a.k.a rapper Nas), a young fella who has moved out of New York City projects to quaint Queens home on money he "earns" by pulling heists on other drug dealers and selling dope himself.

Heavy D gets more done by 10 a.m. than other rappers do all day.On this particular morning, he's already three stops into a schedule that began at 6 and won't wrap up until nearly midnight. He's on the road to promote his sixth and latest album, "Waterbed Hev," and has already made appearances at two local radio stations. There's plenty more to come, too, including a videotaping at BET in Washington later in the day. And then it's off to another city for more of the same tomorrow.It's a punishing load, but the veteran rapper doesn't mind.

"How's everybody?" rap star LL Cool J asked the dozens of youngsters scattered throughout the auditorium of Arena Playhouse. "Everybody feeling good?""Yeah!" the kids answer enthusiastically to both questions.LL Cool J (I'm in a dilemma here as to what he should be called on second reference -- LL? Cool? J? Cool J?) stands on the stage dressed in classic hip-hop gear: sunglasses, black athletic cap, black jacket, white athletic shoes and black pants with the obligatory left pants leg rolled up.He represents a musical genre that is not quite mainstream and has been maligned, pilloried, bashed as the one remaining threat to Western civilization as we know it. Not only have conservatives railed against rap, but so too has the generation that should know better -- the one that grew up on rock 'n' roll and rhythm and blues.

Hargitay hospitalized for lung problem Actress Mariska Hargitay was hospitalized yesterday after complaining of chest pains, according to several Internet reports. The Law & Order: SVU star had suffered a collapsed lung in January. Her representative told Us Magazine's Web site, "Mariska Hargitay went to the hospital this morning after experiencing some discomfort relating to her earlier lung condition. She is undergoing routine tests and expects to be feeling better soon." Lil Wayne off the hook A judge in Atlanta has dismissed felony drug charges against rapper Lil Wayne.

Q-Tip wants to put "new flavor in your ear." In the process, he hopes you feel the love, too. The rapper's engaging new album, The Renaissance, glows with loving, downright sunny sentiments often unheard these days in mainstream hip-hop - or any other urban style, for that matter. With all the talk of hope surrounding the historic presidential election of Barack Obama, it seems appropriate that such an album landed in stores on Election Day. "I felt the music needed to have a reawakening of the spirit," says Q-Tip, who plays the 9:30 Club in Washington on Sunday.

Q-Tip [Universal Motown] **** cds Within six years, Jonathan Davis, better known as celebrated rapper Q-Tip, bounced around five different labels. And although he recorded a wealth of material, none of it saw official release. Only one album, 2002's Kamaal the Abstract, came close to actually seeing the light of CD stores. But at the last minute, Arista, Q-Tip's label at the time, decided to shelve the project after promos had been sent out. It's a shame, because the album was a pointed and wickedly ambitious mash-up of soul-jazz, Beatles-inflected pop and New York-style hip-hop.

He was thinking of a master plan. For Murs, signing with a major label wasn't about "selling out," and he certainly wasn't about to compromise his art too much. The underground West Coast rapper, an acclaimed independent artist for more than a decade, needed a bigger platform for his witty, richly metaphorical messages of perseverance and uplift. Warner Bros. Records certainly had the muscle, and last year the earnest artist signed on the dotted line. On Murs for President, his major-label debut released late last month, the rapper wanted to broaden his musical scope.

Where was he? After 30 minutes stretched to an hour and then another 45 minutes, it seemed that Lil' Wayne, the acclaimed New Orleans rapper, was going to be a no-show. He was the headliner Wednesday night at 1st Mariner Arena, and it was also the same day his long-awaited album, the pop-driven Tha Carter III, hit stores. Maybe he was out celebrating the CD release with his homeboys and forgot there was an enthusiastic crowd, some of whom had paid as much as $200 a ticket, waiting to see him perform.

I'm so over Kanye West and his eggshell ego. The rapper-producer was the subject of entertainment blogs last week after he threw yet another public diva fit. What ticked him off this time? A review -- a good one. Entertainment Weekly critiqued the opening show of his Glow in the Dark tour, which stops at Nissan Pavilion on Saturday. "West's commitment to communicating inner passions and identity crises is so consuming it nearly redeems any conceptual hokeyness," the reviewer said of the Seattle performance.

71 Don Everly Singer 66 Terry Jones Comedian 40 Lisa Marie Presley Singer 40 Pauly Shore Comedian 33 Big Boi Rapper

It was a difficult year for hip-hop star Kanye West and British soul revivalist Amy Winehouse, two of 2007's most visible artists. One is still grieving the sudden death of his mother while the other -- dogged by rumors of severe drug abuse -- has been battling health issues that forced her to cancel several shows. But at least professionally, the two will end the year on a good note as each garnered multiple Grammy nominations yesterday. West leads this year's nods with eight, followed by Winehouse with six. Veteran rockers Foo Fighters, celebrated rapper Jay-Z, quirky rapper-producer Timbaland, pop superstar Justin Timberlake and R&B singer-songwriter T-Pain all received five nominations.

In the glut of awards shows, the second annual BET Hip Hop Awards already stands out - even before it airs tonight. Multiplatinum-selling, Grammy-winning rapper T.I., up for a leading nine awards, was arrested hours before he was to appear on the show, recorded Saturday in Atlanta. The rapper-actor born Clifford Harris was busted in the parking lot of an Atlanta shopping center, where he allegedly tried to pick up three machine guns, two silencers and a pistol from an undercover officer.

NEW YORK -- When it comes to playing Biggie on the big screen, size matters. Take it from De'Andre Neal, a 6-foot-3, 315- pound bouncer with fingers as thick as Twix bars. The Brooklyn native was one of more than 100 hopefuls who turned out this past weekend for an open casting call on a soundstage in Manhattan's meat-packing district, trying to fill the size-13 shoes of Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. Notorious B.I.G., in Notorious, a new biopic about the slain rapper. "Seriously, I saw people who shouldn't even be here," said Neal, 29, his voice so deep it could give you the bends.